Olivia Wilde’s Don’t Worry Darling is tipped to premiere at the Venice Film Festival this fall, which means it will be a busy festival season for Harry Styles, who will also have My Policeman at TIFF. A new trailer dropped for Darling yesterday, and I hope this one comes to TIFF, too. I am super into the vibes and the aesthetic of what Wilde is doing. It’s Hitchcock by way of Palm Springs with a splash of Valley of the Dolls, and nothing is it as it seems. Is this a Stepford situation? A Yellow Wallpaper wrap? An M. Night Shyamalan The Village scenario? I love all of these possibilities.
I’m also digging the battle of will set up between Florence Pugh’s character and Chris Pine’s obvious villain. He doesn’t play bad guys often, Pine’s snake oil quality is vastly underutilized. Bless Olivia Wilde, then, for letting his inner dirtbag out. Some of Pine’s best work falls into the dirtbag category: Horrible Bosses 2, Hell or High Water, Into the Woods, Smokin’ Aces (not good movie, great Chris Pine dirtbag performance). Don’t Worry Darling looks like a classy dirtbag Pine performance, with lots of style and untrustworthiness. As if the bar wasn’t already high for Wilde, coming off a debut like Booksmart, Darling is pushing all my buttons—intriguing premise, stylish, great actors top to bottom. This is one to watch this fall, for sure.
